“It was built in 1935," Lorenz said of a marimba at the center of one musical set. "And traveled Europe with a 100-piece marimba orchestra."

Some pieces have character.

"Her name is Henrietta, by the way," he said of a 52-inch gong."

Some pieces are reclaimed, recycled and reused -- everything from a brake drum to a fight gong, pizza pans to tortoise shells. And some, as Lorenz played a D and C sharp on a pair of tuned Corona beer bottles, have the simplest explanations of all.

“Why Corona?" he was asked.

"Because that’s my favorite beer," said Lorenz.

It was at this ­­­house, probably after a few Coronas, where the idea for the show was hatched.

"We try to take a lot of real high-brow music and perform it as best we can, but in a very low-brow manner," said Jamie Johns, the musical director for the national tour of "Phantom of the Opera," who took a break from the tour to play piano and collaborate with his good friend, Lorenz.

First staged in 2009 as a small-scale cabaret, the fourth iteration of the show -- and first he’s done since 2014 -- is taking over Skylight’s premiere space, the Cabot Theatre.

“I joke, now I’ve made the big time -- in the Cabot," said Lorenz.

Decades of playing, procuring and perfecting a craft and a collection have built to this crescendo.

"You'll never see anything like this anywhere else again in the world," said Johns.

“I’m in my element," said Lorenz, who called the show the culmination of his career. "I can’t imagine doing anything else.”

Michael "Ding" Lorenz is ready to bring down the house, beat by furious beat.

"Things That Go Ding" runs Feb. 22 through March 3 at Skylight's Cabot Theatre. CLICK HERE to learn more, or to purchase tickets.